


Family Comes in Many Forms

by Ashcantwrite



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cal Kestis Needs a Hug, Gen, Memories, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Spoilers, slight angst because mentions of order 66
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23369419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashcantwrite/pseuds/Ashcantwrite
Summary: On some random planet in the middle of nowhere, Cal meets some people he hasn't seen since he was a padawan.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	Family Comes in Many Forms

After the encounter with Vader and deciding to break the holocron the Mantis crew set out on just exploring, even helping out here and there if they could. Cal had spent most of his life on Bracca, from when he was a padawan, to when he was a scrapper. There was so much of the galaxy he hadn’t seen, just head about. He was the most excited to travel the stars. Cere and Greez had seen plenty, but they were both still amused at Cal’s enthusiasm on each new planet they came across. Merrin had also spent most of her life on a single planet, but she wasn’t as enthusiastic as Cal was for exploring. She was interested, but most of the time she stayed on the ship with Cere and Greez, while Cal ran off to go explore. 

This time, they were stopped on a small planet called Xens. The people of Xens lived inside the planet's massive caves, due to the planet's weather being 90% rain. Greez immediately complained about the down pouring weather as soon as they landed. Cere didn’t audibly say that she agreed, but her face said that she’d rather stay safe in the ship. Merrin mentioned something about being used to heavy heat and dry air, she wasn’t sure how she’d react in a downpour like this. Cal rolled his eyes, and left the ship without them. He and BD-1 could explore this place by themselves. 

The local fauna weren’t immediately hostile, but Cal still kept his hand near his saber just in case. Other than that it seemed to be a pretty peaceful planet. He entered a few of the caves and the locals were also very friendly. Only one of them spoke basic, but was more than happy to translate their conversation. The translator told them of another cave system where refugees from the war and resistance fighters were living under their protection. It’s not what Cal came here for, he didn’t really come here for anything. But they must have suspected that he was trying to hide from the war- which isn’t exactly a lie. Cal thanked them and headed in the direction where the translator told him to go. 

During his walk in the rain he stopped under a small stone bridge to take a break from the non stop rain. Just as he was about to head back out into the rain, he got a call on his commlink

“Find anything interesting out there?” Cere’s voice was just barely audible thanks to the loud storm. 

“I think so, I talked to some of the locals, and apparently they’re helping protect some refugees from the War”

“A planet with rain so bad you can hardly see five feet in front of you, would be the place to hide them. Just be careful- you never know who or what you’ll run into.”

“I know I know, BD and I got this”

Cere hung up the call on her end, and Cal marched into the storm. The cave he was looking for thankfully wasn’t too far from the bridge. Once inside he tried to shake off some of the water. This cave actually had a small river flowing through it, the river seemed to lead outside with it ending inside the cave itself. Because of the rain he didn’t see it beforehand, it was a miracle he didn’t fall in. Inside was lit with small lanterns and torches along the wall, he could see people coming out of tents, as well as some small stone structures. An entire village, inside a cave. Cal began walking closer to the village, he could see several different species, some he recognized and some did not. He got a few stares as he walked closer, he figured it was them fearing who they did not know. No one seemed to want to speak with him, which was fine. He really didn’t want to cause any trouble today. 

“Hey someone come help us with this stuff!” Cal turned his head to the loud voice, a voice he’d recognize anywhere. Last he heard a voice like that had been years and years ago. 

\--

_ “Alright there we go, all patched up.” The medic trooper smiled at the small boy. “Tell me again, how you managed to get a cut this deep on your leg. I know the General pushes you, but I never thought it’d get this bad” _

_ “No this is all my fault” Cal giggled slightly as he looked at his now bandaged leg. “I was training with Commander Jet and Riker outside, and I ended up slipping pretty bad.” _

_ “Y’know kid, for a Jedi, you’re pretty clumsy” The medic sighed.  _

_ “I know, But i’ll always have you and Master to help me! So I’ll be okay” _

_ “Yeah, I guess you will. You're a pretty brave kid, no matter how hard things get you always seem to stay optimistic.” The medic’s comment only got a smile in return from Cal. “Alright, run along kid, I'm sure the General is wondering where you are.” _

_ Cal nodded and jumped down from the medical bed. “Thanks again Vy! You’re the best” The kid’s smile was so bright and innocent, Vy couldn’t help but smile back _

_ \-- _

It was Vy, no mistake about it. He looked older and different, only because he was out of the uniform that Cal was so used to seeing during his childhood. Once BD let out a concerned beep, Cal returned to reality and focused on the two men in the small wooden boat. Cal reassured his small friend that he was okay, and he walked towards the two. 

“I’ll help” He smiled at them, trying to hide his nervousness. Vy was right there, his favorite of the troops was standing in front of him. He didn’t know what to think, he wasn’t angry, he wasn’t upset. Cal had given up on blaming the clones a long time ago. They were all just pawns. The two in the boat seemed to appreciate the help. The trio each took a box out of the boat and headed towards one of the stone structures. 

“Vy, you’ve got the medical supplies so put them in the-”

“The Medical building I know, we’ve done this more than once.”

“Great, this guy and I will put these boxes in the mess tent then”

It  _ was _ Vy, and Cal even recognized the other voice. He didn’t recognize the face since he had grown his hair out, but now Cal was positive on who the other man was

\--

_ “Lieutenant, I will be gone for a few days on a mission for the council, we have all agreed that it is too dangerous for my Padawan to join me. So I am taking the Commander with me, and I trust you to watch over Cal while I’m gone” General Tapal spoke, Cal standing to his side.  _

_ “Babysitting duty? Again?” Thankfully due to the helmet, no one could see the lieutenant roll his eyes.  _

_ “This is no time to be difficult. I need to leave as soon as possible. I trust you to make sure Cal still goes through his training courses and eats at a respectable time.” Without giving either of them time to say anything in response, Tapal walked away. Leaving Cal with the Lieutenant. _

_ Once the general was out of ear shot, the Lieutenant spoke, “Alright kid, looks like i’m in charge of you...wanna help me pull a prank on Ricker?” _

_ “Yeah!” Cal’s face beamed, “This is why you're my favorite, Zach. You let me have fun” _

_ “I appreciate the title kid, just don’t tell Vy that. He might get jealous.” _

\--

Zach. It was Zach and Vy. Vy and Zach were right in front of him.  _ Kriff, Kriff, Kriff- _ He heard BD give another concerned beep, and got pulled back to the present moment. Zach was already way ahead of him, he did the best he could to catch up with a heavy box in his hands. Once they placed the boxes in the correct place, Vy opened the tent to meet them. 

“Thanks for the help, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

Cal shook his head, “No I’m not from around here, I’m just a traveler.”

“Got a name, traveler?”

“C…” he was hesitant, would they remember him? Would they blame him? Would they fear him? “Cal Kestis”

He watched as the faces of the two ex-troopers went from calm to shock. The three stood there in silence for a few moments, which felt like hours to Cal. It seemed like they were both trying to process it. Vy was the one to speak first. 

“Cal...General Tapal's padawan Cal?” Cal just nodded, which made Vy’s breath hitch. “I…-”

“If…” Here comes the words he’s been wanting to say for so long. “If either of you are going to say I’m sorry. Don’t. I don’t blame any of you for what happened that day. It was the scariest day of my life, and I hated you all for so long. But now...now I know that it wasn’t your fault, I know that none of you would willingly hurt me or Master Tapal. Or any Jedi for that matter.” Before he could speak anymore, Vy had rushed to him and engulfed him in a hug. Seconds later Zach joined in. If any of them cried, no one mentioned it. 

Zach was first to pull out of the hug, and then Vy. Zach ruffled Cal’s hair with a small chuckle. “How did you two even get out? Master blew up the ship as we were escaping.”

“Zach and I were in the med bay. He got a pretty serious head injury that I needed to fix. I found a weird tumor chip thing in his brain after his brain scans showed up. Turns out I had one two, Zach helped me take it out. When the order was called, all we remember seeing is our brothers firing at you and the General. We somehow managed to get into our own escape pod before the explosion went off.” Vy explained the best he could. 

“Yeah, I’ve been stuck with this idiot for  _ years _ ” Zach rolled his eyes but smiled. 

“There are worse people to be stuck with” Cal joked along. 

“What about you Cal...what have you been up to all this time?” 

Cal started to explain everything. His master dying in the escape pod, living on Bracca as a scraper, meeting Cere and Greez, adventuring across the galaxy to find the holocron, destroying the holocron, he ended his story with “We’re here to explore, and then I ran into you two.”

The two ex-troopers couldn’t help but smile, “You master would be proud of you Cal. He’s not here to watch over you, but you still turned into one hell of a Jedi.”

“Yeah look at you go! Being all mature and cool” Zach ruffled his hair again. 

“Stop it” Cal laughed, playfully smacking his hands away. 

“Sorry kid, it’s just...weird...last I saw you, you were like ten and stood as tall as my hip. Now look at you, you’re as tall as us.”

The three talked for a while longer, catching up and all that. Cal reminded them multiple times how much he missed them, and how much he didn’t blame any of them for what happened. He somehow convinced both of them to go back out into the rain and follow Cal back to the Mantis. 

Meeting the crew on the Mantis, didn’t go terribly, but it could have gone better. Greez started yelling at Cal for bringing strays onto  _ his _ ship. Merrin was skeptical and kept her distance from them. Cere seemed to still blame the clones for what happened. Cal could sense her anger as soon as she realized who they were. Cal explained their story, and how much he trusted Vy and Zach. 

And thanks to the storm getting even worse, Vy and Zach were stuck on the Mantis for a few more hours. 

Things would be okay, Cal still had hope. 


End file.
